EDIT:

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This post is about a feature that only works if community styling setting is ON.

For some of you it will make sense, some you will see that the option actually works. I didn’t know that when writing the post.

I had this option switched OFF because it was causing serious issues to the extend I had to deactivate it. I couldn’t scroll and read posts properly on the mobile.

After years I’m testing community styling again, but I didn’t know how the u / # is supposed to work until yesterday.

Thank you to everyone who have responded in comments.

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My original post here:

Some time ago someone has proposed to use links like the one below to indicate a Q post:

u/#q529

Try and click above. See what happens.

It sends people to non-existing user profile: q529 and it shows the error.

I know it was proposed as a “standard” some time ago, but in my opinion it’s a bad standar, it’s irrational and doesn’t make sense. I will try to explain that logically below.

See the arguments:

• it requires the person to add a bit more effort to format the Q post in a certain way (in comparison to a simple text)

• it doesn’t add any value to the users who reads it (except frequent visitors who know that it indicates a Q post, but you will see a bit more logic about it below)

• it confuses new visitors / new eyes because they don’t know what that is and why it shows them the error page

• “a bit more effort” that’s needed above to format the Q post in “a weird” way can be used to achieve a proper link, e.g. like the one below, which would be way more useful for everyone:

https://qalerts.app/?n=529

The goal to introduce the “standard” was to make it clear that someone is referring to a Q post. Think about it from this perspective: There are 2 kind of users:

• someone who is on this board for a long time / frequent visitors - they recognise that it’s a Q post and learn that it shows the error, never click on the “link”, for this group any other format, e.g. a “proper link” standard, would be easy to adopt, learn and recognise, so for this group the decision between 2 standards doesn’t make a big difference,

• someone new - these people may find it hard to guess what that is, especially when they see an error, they may think that it’s a broken functionality or deleted/suspended user in our community.

If we just agree to use qalerts link instead - see what happens:

• in both cases the extra/small effort is required to format the link (in comparison to a simple text q529), so it doesn’t differentiate these 2 formats much from the effort perspective,

• new users would avoid confusion when seeing the error page, because … there wouldn’t be any error page anymore,

• both user types (new users and frequent visitors) would benefit from a useful link and that is a real difference between 2 approaches.

To summarise:

• There are no reasons to do it “the old way”.

• There are reasons to do it “a new way” (as a normal link).

Can we have a vote on it? Are you up for a change?